The last rays of light faded as the dark hues strewed in the forest. Leaves crunches and twigs snapped as the two friends walked side by side. Branch after branch was dodged and soon enough, the brick structure of the mansion came back into view, standing in its utmost glory.

Autumn came to a stop and let out a tired sigh. Adam halted right beside her, his mouth turned down into a grim line. Frustration and disappointment leaking through his features.

"Well, that didn't go exactly as planned."

Adam stayed silent for a moment and ran a hand through his hair in discontent. "What are we going to do now, Autie?"

She looked at the mansion and spoke up, "We're going to figure things out, one by one."

Adam gulped down the wave of overwhelming fear that surfaced inside him and nodded with slight resistance.

Both companions disregarded the small graveyard and walked to the front of the mansion. Their hours-long search around the forest had gone down the drain of despair. There was not a single soul present in the surroundings. The small house in Autumn's vision was nowhere to be seen. They both just felt like going around in circles.

They had also looked for any signs or hints other than Talia’s car, but to no avail. The car had been moved to be beside Autumn's with some difficulty.

As the friends entered the house, they felt a new sense of loneliness weighing them down. They had lost three of their friends and now they were all alone.

Once in the living room, Autumn picked up the map, handed it over to Adam and grabbed two torches from their backpacks. They both tried to read the map again in order to find any basement but there was nothing as such mentioned on the map.

It was apparent that the basement was supposed to be some sort of hidden place in the mansion. A place to keep the secrets away from anything containing life. Suddenly, Autumn walked out of the room with her eyes searching, while her mind started piecing out any place to keep a hidden door. She walked around the lobby and pushed every portrait on the wall aside, as if there would be some sort of hidden lever behind them. A small table by the door was also moved to the side- leaving a dust free trail behind- but there was nothing worth her attention.

Nothing except some small insects that made her avert.

“We’re doing something wrong,” Adam commented. He was standing by the stairs, holding the map up.

“What do you mean? What are we doing wrong?”

“The door can’t be inside the house,” Adam stated.

Autumn stared at him blankly, at which he elaborated.

“Think about it, Autie. This is an old house. And most basements back then used to have an outside entrance.”

“The storm doors,” Autumn said.

Adam nodded when his friend spoke up again, “But those also have an indoor entrance, right?”

“They do, but once we find the storm door, we find the basement. And once we enter the basement, we find the door leading inside. It’s better than just trying to find a hidden door somewhere here in this huge mansion.”

Autumn smiled.

A minute later, both friends were walking out of the door. With torches in hand, they walked around the mansion, checking for an old entrance on the ground level. As they passed the graveyard, Autumn shuddered and quickened her pace. The rays from both torches crossed over and over as their hands moved.

“Look,” Autumn whispered- her torch pointing in a distance by the wall.

Adam turned to where she was motioning and his face brightened. “Let’s go.”

Both friends ran to the wooden slanting doors. The wood was badly cracked and a small part of the door was broken from a corner. There was a chain wrapped around the handles, secured by a large rusted padlock.

“Well, there goes the opportunity to go down there.”

Autumn looked at her friend. “Don’t be like that, Adam. There’s still an attic and we’ll hopefully find the keys there.”

“That’s true, but how’re we going to find that?”

“I don’t know,” Autumn muttered. She moved closer to the broken corner of the door and positioned her torch there. The portion was small and the light was barely going through.

“See anything?”

Autumn shook her head. She narrowed her eyes and moved her face closer. The only thing she could see was empty ground underneath. Her mouth turned down and she held her breath as she moved the torch a little bit to the side.

Something flashed in front of her eyes. Autumn yelped and stumbled back, falling to the ground. Her torch fell by her and her eyes turned wide with fear. Heart pounding, she gulped and stared at the small hole.

“Autumn!”

Autumn snapped her head to Adam who was looking at her with worry and concern. He had been calling her name for some time.

“What’s wrong? What did you see?”

Autumn’s voice trembled and cracked as she stammered, “I don’t know. There was something down there. A body. A dead body. With blood. So much of it.”

Adam froze. “Was there anything else, Autie?” he slowly asked.

Autumn nodded. “It was looking right at me.”

____________________________________________________

After lighting up the fire, Autumn rummaged through her bag to find the two diaries and then settled down on the makeshift mattress beside Adam. She opened the page they had last stopped at, and started reading.

The whole diary that consisted of those entries was very random and normal from there onward. Autumn did not find anything unusual that could help them with something- anything. There were happy moments, romantic rendezvous, birthdays and other celebrations mentioned. Yet there was not a single mention of a bizarre event that could guide the two people left.

Autumn huffed. “There’s nothing inside that could help us.”

“How are we going to find the keys then? Other than looking for the attic and then looking in there. Honestly? I don’t think the keys will be in the attic. What if they’re in any locked room and we can never get them now? What if-”

“Adam?” Autumn eyed her friend.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

Autumn picked up the second diary and opened it up. In the beginning, the case was the same with this diary as well, until she reached the entry where Grace's pregnancy was mentioned. Recognition sparked in her eyes and she read that to Adam and then moved to the next page.

-

29 October, 1948

The whole house has been a mess to say the least. Honestly, I blame the excitement that is present in all of us for this. There have been many purchases of new baby things. I know it is still early, but no one can actually stop my sisters, sister-in-laws and most importantly, my mother. Sometimes it feels like I am not even excited enough to be a father as compared to them all.

All the happiness aside, something happened again. Father's new car- that is normally parked outside the house- was completely vandalized. Just yesterday, it was completely fine, and today when we woke up, it was deteriorated. There was a small message, a message that contained only a single word.

'Beware!'

-

18 December, 1948

I do not think there is any purpose for me in life anymore. The news has not only left me devastated, but everyone else as well. All of us were living in this happy bubble that we did not see the worst news approaching.
Today we came to know that Grace is sick. She got diagnosed with breast cancer, but even that is not the worst news. We were told that she had reached the point where nothing could be done.

She has barely a month to live and I can not live without her. I just got her not too long ago and now she is being taken away from me. I can not live like this.

I could never.

-

1 January, 1949

I remember those days when I used to tell Grace that no matter what, a person could never have a bad Christmas and New Year's. I think it is time I take back my words. I have officially spent the worst two aforementioned events of my life. At a point I was not even aware that it was that time of the year. It was not until I had gotten out of the house that I noticed the happiness etched on everyone's face.

I just have been having a hard time for these past couple of days.

Grace is getting weaker and weaker. Everyone is worried sick and it feels like I am dying along with my wife and unborn child.

I feel even worse knowing that I can not help her. I can not do anything and I feel completely helpless. I want to help her somehow but I unfortunately can't.

I just wish I could take away her pain. I can not see her like this. She is my life. She is my everything.

-

Suddenly, a loud thud sounded from the upper floor. Startled, Autumn and Adam looked up at the ceiling and then at each other. At first, they decided to brush it off as nothing, but when the same sound came again, they shuffled uneasily in their places. When the sound came again, Autumn stood up.

"What are you doing?"

Autumn looked down at her friend. "I'm going to check what's going on upstairs."

"Have you gone bonkers?" Adam whisper-yelled while getting up, as if someone hiding in the shadows would hear him.

"Come on, Adam. We're not getting anywhere just by reading this diary. There is something more and I have to find out what it is. If whatever is happening up there would lead me to something, then I'm not missing the opportunity to check it out. Talia, Raymond and Kaylee are gone and I'm going to do everything I can to find them. I know you're scared but... so am I. I'm scared, Adam. I'm freaking out."

Adam stayed silent as he took in her words and considered them. For the first time, when he looked at the girl in front of him, he saw fear in her eyes, guilt on her expression. And for the first time, Adam felt like he was not alone. A fire ignited in him and he felt a new sense of strength- one that was a reflection of Autumn’s.

Adam looked at Autumn with a steady gaze and nodded. He picked up the torches and smiled.

"Come on. We're going up." A smile broke out on Autumn's face as she heard his reply. She thanked him with a smile and both friends left the room to walk up the stairs. With every thud, their heart beated faster and faster. They both held onto each other's hand to gain strength as their bones shook with fear.

The moment they reached the sliding door to the library, the thudding noise stopped. Adam gulped and glanced at Autumn in the dark, who was intensely looking at the door with her brown eyes. Her gaze was strong, as if commanding whatever inside to do as she orders.

Taking a deep breath, Autumn put a hand on the handle. The handle was slowly turned and the door was slid open with the same slowness.

Inside, everything appeared the same as it was before in daylight. The couches were in their place as well as the small table. All the books seemed exactly to be where they were before. Nothing looked out of place. Autumn looked around the library along with Adam to see any change but they found none.

Taking the wooden ladder at the side, Autumn dragged it to the open place in the railing on the second floor, and started climbing. The crosspieces barely held her weight and creaked from time to time. At one point, she felt as if they would crumble and she would fall down. She gripped the torch tightly and continued up. Once she reached the top, Adam followed her movement upward.

At the second level, Autumn continued her search and found Adam doing the same beside her. They both looked and looked, trying to make sense of the order of books- of any secret that could be hidden in them.

Despite their effort, they failed. They had the disadvantage of not being there long enough to memorize all the books and their order. Any book could be missing. Any book could be added anew. Anything could have been done and they wouldn't know what it had been.

Autumn let out a disappointed sigh and dropped down on the sofa chair when something caught her eye due to the flash of the torch. She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes to look closely.

There, on the book shelf, were seven volumes of a book with light brown spines. They were hardcovers with titles in a foreign language along with their order in roman numerals.

She put her torch on the table, stood up and slowly walked over to the books. There was a familiar cold feeling around and inside her chest but she didn’t give it much notice. Autumn focused on the books in front of her and studied their disorderly arrangement. Out of nowhere, her hands worked on their own accord and started arranging the books in the right order.

This whole time, Adam's lingering gaze was on her as he tried to decipher the meaning behind Autumn's motive.

Autumn blinked several times in confusion once she was out of the daze. She looked at the books lying in the correct order in front of her. Before she could react, a sound of a lock opening was heard from above her. She slowly looked up just in time when a trap door opened.

*****

Hey, Clumsies!

How did you like the chapter?

Their search for the basement?

The storm doors?

The locked places?

What Autumn saw?

The entries?

The trap door?

Let me know in the comments!

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Love you!